


Arizona

by ashley_ingenious



Series: States of Being [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 13:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4962592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashley_ingenious/pseuds/ashley_ingenious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s just not right,” he’d heard Natalie Martin murmur in a coffee shop the other day, “leaving a family like that. There’s just…there’s better ways to do it. Unless he isn’t coming back.” </p><p>Stiles got that one a lot, some believe that he had been left, like really left, and he just hadn’t noticed it. Which was ridiculous, because he was a cop, second generation. There was no way he would just be abandoned and not know about it. Absolutely no way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arizona

**Author's Note:**

> Alt Title: Kindred Spirits  
> Alt Alt Title: Something to Talk About
> 
> Stalled on the novel so have....this. Thing. That I started writing out of nowhere and just sort of...yeah.

_Six weeks_  
“Daddy! We’ve gotta get up for school!” Kadie squealed, bouncing on the end of the bed, entirely too excited for 6:45 in the morning. 

_Sign of good parenting_ , Stiles thought, rolling over to look at her. _Happy kid._

“You look like you’re up enough for both of us Kadybug.” He said, smiling at her. She beamed back. 

“But you gotta be up too ‘cause you gotta make sure I brush my teeth right and make me breakfast.” 

Sitting up, Stiles nodded. “I think I can do that for you. How about you go get started and I’ll meet you there?” 

Nodding, she bounced off the bed and run into the hall bathroom. 

“No running!” He called out after her, rising slowly from bed. He stretched, moving slowly towards his own en suite bathroom. Flipping the switch, light flooded the small room. 

The counters were clean, without all Matt’s stuff cluttering up. That man was a slob. Stiles had asked him to look for dual sinks in the master bathroom of their new house, so hopefully that worked out. Stiles smiled remembering his husband’s genuine excitement at the idea of moving them all out to Arizona, starting new. Somewhere without all the painful memories that lingered here in Beacon Hills. 

Stiles shook his head, splashed some water on his face and grabbed his tooth brush, heading out to meet Kadie in the hall bathroom. 

There was parenting to be done. 

\--

The thing about living in the town you’d grown up in, the town your parents had grown up in, your grandparents had grown up in, is that everyone knew everything about you. And Stiles, since he was conceived, had never failed to be big news. 

His dad had been a twenty five year old deputy, and his mom had been the spanking new eighteen year old mayor’s daughter. It was the epitome of a shotgun wedding, shotgun included. But his mom and dad had been happy together. His mom died in a car crash when he was 8, and they talked about him then. Dad died in the line of duty when he was sixteen, and they talked about him then. His Aunt had been sent to jail for setting a fire that killed a whole mess of people in the Preserve, and they’d talked. Grandfather’d offed himself in his office, and they’d talked. Best friend ran off to Indonesia after high school, left him her six month old daughter, they talked about him then. Came out as gay, and you can believe they talked about that. Married a mechanic he’d known since high school. 

And then Matt had gotten an offer to manage a chain of mechanic’s shops in Arizona, it was an amazing opportunity, and they’d jumped all over it. He went out on a bunch of small interviews before officially getting the job. 

But it’d been March, Kadie in the middle of first grade, and it hadn’t made any sense to pack them all up and move them when school would be out in two months, so Matt had gone alone, promised to send for them when school was out. 

Which was two weeks from now. 

Stiles was consistently checking his email for their flight itineraries, calling Matt when he didn’t find them. Matt’s cell service was horrible in Arizona, though. And he’d been so busy with the new job, he just hadn’t had the time to get it switched. He forbade Stiles from just buying the tickets himself, because the company was supposed to be paying for them and he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of being reimbursed. 

So, Matt had been gone for six weeks, and Beacon Hills hadn’t stopped talking about him not once that entire time. 

“It’s just not right,” he’d heard Natalie Martin murmur in a coffee shop the other day, “leaving a family like that. There’s just…there’s better ways to do it. Unless he isn’t coming back.” 

Stiles got that one a lot, some believe that he had been left, like really left, and he just hadn’t noticed it. Which was ridiculous, because he was a cop, second generation. There was no way he would just be abandoned and not know about it. Absolutely no way. 

But they talked regardless and Stiles found he didn’t mind much. He was used to it. They kept it away from Kadie, and that was all that mattered. 

“Stilinski!” Greenberg yelled, “Boss says to send you to the bakery for snacks. You’re the only person Hale won’t kick out on sight.” 

Stiles chuckled. “Kindred spirits,” he muttered. 

If there was anyone Beacon Hills talked about more than Stiles, it was Derek Hale. 

The fire had been tragic on a scale akin to those school shootings you see on the news every now and again. Thirteen people dead, people all over the country sent donations and flowers and teddy bears to the survivors, Derek and his sister, Laura. The fire was immediately declared arson, but the cops couldn’t find any leads. The media attention drew the FBI down, and they traced the whole thing back to Kate Argent. Who was, coincidentally, Stiles’ aunt. 

Kindred spirits, indeed. 

He pushed his way into Hale Yes, the best bakery in Northern California easily, and took a deep breath. 

“It smells like unicorns in here.” He said, eyes closed.

“Unicorns?” 

When he opened his eyes, he found Derek staring at him from behind the counter, eyebrows raised. 

“Yeah,” Stiles said, ambling closer. “Y’know. Something multicolored and majestic.” 

“Cupcakes.” 

“No, but like, something living and breathing and colorful and majestic.” 

Derek nodded. “Ah, so obviously unicorns.” 

“Right.” 

There was a moment of silence before Derek chuckled. “What do you want, Stiles?” 

“A dozen of something for the station. And one of those marshmallow things?” Stiles asked. 

Derek shook his head. “We’re only selling one cupcake today. It’s the Amazing Apple.” 

Stiles’ eyes bulged. “Is it…I didn’t even look at the date…” 

“It’s fine Stiles.” 

“it’s _not_. You and I both know how much it’s not.” 

If Derek was only selling Amazing Apple cupcakes, then today was Laura’s birthday. Laura, the only other survivor of the fire, who’d killed herself three months later because she couldn’t handle life without her family. 

Yeah, Derek Hale knew what it was like to be talked about. 

“Amazing Apple, then.” Stiles said, breaking the silence. “A dozen for the station and one for me.” 

Nodding, Derek turned to start getting the cupcakes together. 

Stiles paid for them quietly, completely prepared to slink out without too much of a bother when Derek called out to him. 

“Hey, you think you might be able to bring Kadie by later? There’s something I want to show her.” 

Stiles nodded. “Sure? Um…she’s got soccer today but we can be here around 4:30?” 

Derek shrugged. “Anytime before six is good.” 

“Alright,” Stiles smiled, pushing out of the door. 

_Ten weeks_  
Derek knocked at six in the morning, like he had every morning for the last two weeks, and Stiles was all smiles as he bustled a sleepy Kadie towards the door. 

He swung it open with a grin. “Man, this couldn’t have worked out any better if you planned it. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done, Matt’s been so busy and he hasn’t had time to send the tickets yet and I made no plans for Kadybug here once school was out. You’re saving my life, Derek, seriously.” 

Derek blinked a few times, then nodded, lips quirking up into a small smile, before holding a hand out for Kadie. 

On Laura’s birthday, Derek had pulled Kadie into the bakery’s massive kitchen, and started teaching her how to make cupcakes. She’d taken to it with ease, and while she still hadn’t mastered dough, she frosted like a champion. Derek had asked if she could help him in the shop over the summer, if they were still in town. 

“I…my mom baked, and she taught Laura and I, and it was supposed to get passed down but now…I just want to teach somebody, you know? I don’t want it all to get lost.” He’d said, and he’d sounded so sad that Stiles had agreed, felt like he had to agree, even though he knew they wouldn’t be here much longer. 

It wouldn’t hurt for Kadie to pick up a skill, a hobby of some kind. 

And then, when school had let out and he hadn’t heard from Matt, Derek had just started showing up in the mornings, taking her to the shop with him for the day, and a massive weight lifted off Stiles’ shoulders. 

Once Derek and Kadie were gone, Stiles tried Matt’s cell again. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. Stiles cursed. The number Matt had sent him for the shop must’ve been wrong, every time he called it was disconnected. He wasn’t responding to emails or texts either. And Stiles got it, he did, being busy and in a new place with bad cell service but, Jesus, he couldn’t at least call his family? 

Stiles’ anger spiked for just a moment before simmering down. It wouldn’t do him any good to be angry. Matt would get in touch with him when the time was right. Everything would be fine. 

Taking a deep breath, he decided to run to the grocery store, get the fixings for barbeque for dinner. It was summer, after all. And he’d feel good, treating Derek to a meal, considering how much of a help he’d been. Plus, he didn’t need to be at the station until ten, and it was hardly seven now. He had the time to kill. 

Nodding to himself, he slipped into his shoes and grabbed his wallet, heading for the door. 

It was tough, though, when he was riled up like this, to ignore the whispers. It was fine while he was humming to himself, picking up food off the aisles, but standing in the checkout line, sandwiched Vernon Boyd (who was, without a doubt in Stiles’ mind, Kadie’s biological father. They didn’t talk about it), and Natalie Martin herself, it was much, much harder to ignore. 

“Any news from that husband of yours, Stiles?” Natalie said, examining her nails like she was talking about the weather. The whole store was holding its breath, waiting for his response. 

“Nothing yet, ma’am,” Stiles responded, forcing his voice to stay light. His smile was forced, cheeks tight, he knew. There wasn’t much he could do about it, though, short of ripping her face off. 

“The way I heard it, you and the little one were supposed to have left a few weeks ago when school got out?” She continued, still not meeting his eyes. Boyd was stiff beside him, and Heather Mays was swiping items across the scanner so fast Stiles was scared they might catch fire. Anything to keep the line moving. 

“Unexpected complications.” 

“Your life seems to be full of those, doesn’t it, Stiles?” 

“Stop.” Boyd forced out through gritted teeth, and Natalie’s eyes swung up, wide at the interruption.

“I beg your pardon?” 

“You don’t have it. Cut it out with your gossip mongering. Let the man buy his groceries and go home, Natalie. His life isn’t some spectator sport for you.” 

“I was just being neighborly,” Natalie huffed, obviously offended. 

Boyd rolled his eyes. 

Heather finished checking out Boyd’s groceries with an obvious exhale of relief, and moved on to Stiles’ as soon as Boyd had his receipt. 

The larger man hesitated near the doors, seeming almost afraid to leave Stiles alone with Natalie, but eventually he walked out. 

“That’ll be fifty seven oh nine, Stiles,” Heather whispered, and Stiles dutifully pulled out his card to hand to her. 

“I…Stiles I’m sorry this says declined?” Heather squeaked, handing it back to him. He took it sheepishly, he’d have to call the bank today, figure it out. Luckily, they had a credit card for emergencies, which he handed her next. She nodded, running it, but it beeped violently at her, and when she looked back at him her face was pale. 

“I’m…I’m not supposed to give this one back to you, Stiles. I’ve gotta cut it up.” 

“I…what? We never even use that thing!” 

“Unexpected complications?” Natalie asked, face buried in a magazine, and Stiles felt his face grow hot. 

“I’ll have you know,” he started, but Heather cut him off with a hand on his arm.

“Just go, Stiles. I’ll cover it. You just go.” 

Red with embarrassment, Stiles gathered his bags and fled the grocery store, shutting himself inside the Jeep as fast as he could.

He was breathing too fast, he knew, and his chest hurt from how hard his heart was beating. He wanted to cry, to smash his hands into the steering wheel or scream or something, but he knew Natalie would be out of the store any minute, no credit card malfunctions for her, and he knew he didn’t want to be in the parking lot when she came out. 

Throwing the car into reverse, he peeled out of the lot much faster than was appropriate for an officer of the law. 

\--

An hour later found him numb. Sitting in his small home office, staring at his computer, phone pressed up to his ear. 

Matt had taken everything. He’d opened two more cards in their name that he’d never told Stiles about, and pulled massive cash advances against all three of them. He’d stopped his direct deposit into their joint account, leaving only Stiles’ paycheck to cover all of their existing bills. He was overdrawn, but the mortgage had gotten paid for that month, and the lights would stay on. 

The girl on the phone was trying to explain it all to him. The two new cards didn’t have any record of his signature for opening, so those could be counted as fraud and removed from his Credit Report, but the emergency card they’d opened, there wasn’t anything he could do about that. The account was closed and there was no reopening it without paying off the full balance of twenty seven thousand dollars. Even then, he wouldn’t be able to open the same card, he’d have to apply for a new one and hope. 

His odds weren’t very good, with the two other cards on his record and while the fraud claim would take care of that, it definitely wouldn’t be wrapped up any time soon. 

But all of that, all of that wasn’t what hurt. 

What hurt was that the last cash advance on the emergency card had been taken out two days ago, in Florida. What the hell was Matt doing in Florida?

“Can you…did he leave any information? Any way to get ahold of him?” 

The girl on the phone sighed. “No sir. All he’s required to provide is his ID. Which was valid, and the address he listed is the same as the one the card bills to, so I’m assuming it’s yours. We don’t have any information on him that you wouldn’t already have.” 

“I…okay. So there’s nothing you can do for me, then.” 

“I…Mr. Stilinski? I hate to…I don’t want to be the bearer of more bad news I just…I want to make sure you understand your situation.” 

“I’m pretty sure I understand now, thank you.” Stiles sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. 

“Were you aware of the withdrawal from the college fund, then?” 

Stiles blood ran cold. 

“The….did he take all of it?” 

“No. only half. He got a cashier’s check at a branch in Tallahassee. It doesn’t look like he’s cashed it yet though, I can put a stop payment on it. I can put those funds back in your account, if they’re contested. Because the accounts technically in the name of a minor, I can do that.” 

“Yes, please. Thank you.” 

“Alright, I’ll get that taken care of for you.” 

“Is there…do you need anything from me?” 

“No sir. We’ll call you if there’s any new information.” 

Stiles nodded and hung up the phone.

He drove to the bakery on autopilot. He just needed to look at Kadie, maybe eat a cupcake, and then he’d get down to figuring out what the hell he was going to do. 

The front doors were still locked when he got there, bakery didn’t technically open until eight, so he let himself around the back, following the smell of sugar and warm dough. 

“No,” he heard as he made his way to the kitchen, “you’ve gotta go a little softer Bug, you can’t force it, or it’ll be a mess, like the ones they make at the grocery store.” Derek muttered softly. 

Stiles turned the corner just in time to see Kadie’s face crinkle in disgust. “Grocery store frosting is awful.” She said, before catching sight of Stiles. Her face lit up.

“Daddy!” 

She jumped down off her stool, abandoning the frosting to jump into his arms. He held her tight and scooped her up, feeling a lump form in his throat. It took everything he had not to cry into her hair. 

“Go wash your hands, Kadie.” Derek said softly, and waited until she was out of the room before approaching Stiles. 

“Are you alright?” He asked, stopping just outside of Stiles’ space. 

The younger man shook his head. “He cleaned us out…” He said, choking on tears. 

He wiped at his face quickly. 

Derek just stood there. “If you need money, I have…I mean, I could give you a loan.” 

“Why don’t you sound surprised?” Stiles hissed. Derek shrugged.

“Did everyone know?” Stiles asked, shoulders sagging miserably. 

“It’s none of anyone’s business,” Derek muttered back. 

“But they knew, right? This whole time, they knew he left me, and I’d just been walking around like an idiot?” 

“You’re not an idiot, Stiles. You trusted him.” 

Stiles snorted. “Yeah, and he robbed me. And ruined my credit. And tried to tank Kadie’s college fund. So much for trust.” 

“You know I know how you feel right now. I know what it’s like to be betrayed.” 

“This isn’t anywhere near that! I don’t even know how you function. What Ka--- what she did to you? I almost can’t breathe just standing here. And you’re…functioning. I don’t even understand how you do that.” 

Derek opened his mouth to respond, but the water shut off in the bathroom and they both stopped talking, watched Kadie skip back in. 

“When you guys are done, I’m thinking barbecue for dinner. Gotta feed my favorite bakers, don’t I?” 

Kadie giggled, bouncing on her toes. “Chicken? Ribs?!” 

Stiles nodded. “And baked potatoes, and corn on the cob, everything you like, Kadybug.” 

“Yay!” She cried, turning to look at Derek with wide eyes. 

And Derek was smiling back down at her, a small, soft smile that made Stiles’ heart stutter in his chest a little. 

“I’ve uh…I’ve gotta go.” He stumbled, angling back towards the door. 

“You going to the station?” Derek asked, lifting Kadie back up onto her stool, where she dutifully started frosting again. 

Stiles shook his head. “Personal day, I think. Gotta figure some stuff out.” 

Derek nodded at him, gave him that same soft smile he’d given Kadie and that, was just too much. 

“Bye guys. Don’t burn anything down!” He called, waving a little hysterically as he fled the kitchen. 

\--

Later that night, Stiles and Derek sat on Stiles’ back porch and watched Kadie run around the yard, blowing bubbles. 

“So what’re you going to do?” Derek asked easily, sipping a beer. 

The night was mild, and the sky was still orange, purple, and twilight blue even though it was going on eight o clock. 

“I don’t know. I can…there’s life insurance, I’m sure you know all about that. Uncle Chris didn’t want anything to do with it, and Kate’s not eligible, so when Gerard died it all just sort of…came to me. I’ve never touched it. Never needed to, Matt and I got by alright. Gerard hated my dad, you know. For like, spoiling his precious baby girl or whatever. Never contacted us after they got married, didn’t even come to the funeral. So I never felt right…using his money.” 

Derek nodded. “I’ve still got the money from the life insurance policies…and my parents had some stock…I mean….we were never poor, and then with everything…” 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want…” 

“I’m just saying, I get it. But this is the time to use it. Rebuild.” 

Stiles nodded. 

“I don’t know what I’m going to tell her,” he whispered, looking out at Kadie. She was laughing as the first fireflies started to wink around the yard. 

“You’re all she’s ever known, Stiles. I don’t think she’s all that attached to Matt in the first place. She’s never made any mention of missing him since he’s been gone.” 

Stiles hummed. Matt and Kadie had been alright, not good, but alright with each other. Stiles had always just been so grateful that Matt had stuck around, even after Stiles inherited a tiny biracial child, that he’d never questioned it. 

“You haven’t either, you know.” Derek said, and Stiles turned to look at him. 

‘What?” 

“You’ve never once mentioned missing him. Not one time since he’s been gone.” 

Stiles thought about it, about how much easier his mornings were without all Matt’s crap in the bathroom, about how he could finally stretch out in the bed without Matt pushing him back into his corner, could finally sleep with a blanket over him that Matt wasn’t hogging. Could finally throw out all the pretentious tea in the kitchen and go back to coffee the way he liked. 

But also, the comfort of having someone else in bed with him at night, someone else breathing, someone to make sure Kadie wasn’t burning down the house while he slept in after late shifts, to pick her up from school or help her with her homework. 

“I think I miss being married. The partnership of it. It’ll be hard, being a single dad with Kadie. I’ve never…since I got her I’ve never been by myself.” 

“Well you’ve been doing alright so far without him,” Derek insisted, beer at his lips.

“That’s because I had you,” Stiles said, meeting Derek’s eyes. 

Derek nodded, and Stiles grinned as he looked back over at Kadie thinking, Kindred spirits. 

\--

_Twenty seven weeks_

And people still talk, about the Hale boy moving in with the Stilinski kid. They still wonder how those two can even stand to look at each other after everything that’s happened between their families. 

But it’s okay, because if there’s anyone that’s used to being talked about, it’s them.

**Author's Note:**

> Boyd starts to come around, a little at a time. He doesn't want Kadie to know but he wants Stiles to know that if she ever needs anything, well, he's around. 
> 
> Kadie learns all the Hale family baking secrets, and has every intention of taking over the shop when Derek retires. 
> 
> Stiles gets a check from Matt about eight months later. It's for a lot. More than he took, in fact. He's completely confused but Uncle Chris seems eerily smug about it. 
> 
> Erica never comes back, but she starts sending postcards around Kadie's twelfth birthday. Bug does _not_ take it well.
> 
> But that's another story for another day.


End file.
